OPP Sketch
Problematization In this article, the author(s) have clearly identified the goal of their research as being: -“Are GMO foods the next best hope for feeding our planet or should we follow the example set by consumers in the European Union, whose outcry reached such proportions that, in April 1999, virtually all major manufacturers publicly committed to stop using GM ingredients in their European brands.” Dr. Pusztai: advanced a study demonstrating the ill effects of GMO use and when he approached those funding the project he was immediately fired and his research group was disbanded. A pro-GM campaign was launched soon after to discredit his study. 'Consumers' Consumers are ill informed; The Pusztai story got virtually no press in the United States. The mentality of Americans is that they believe if a food or crop or GMO has been approved by the FDA then it contains no harmful component otherwise it would not be allowed in our food supply. If a food is not completely organic and labelled so, you can bet it has GM components. 'Scientists' 44 000 internal FDA documents made public: -Overwhelming consensus among the FDA’s scientists was that GM foods were substantively different, so different that their consumption might result in unpredictable and hard-to-detect allergens, toxins, new diseases and nutritional problems. Agency scientists urged superiors to require long-term studies, but were not only ignored; their statements about possible negative effects of GMOs were progressively deleted from FDA policy statement drafts. This story was presented to Washington D.C. in a press conference in 1999 but the story didn’t make the headlines. -Other than Pusztai, Jeffery M. Smith published a study demonstrating the ill effects on animals and humans from which the results returned as having harmful effects on the environment as a whole (including humans). 'Media' The media is an important actor, we have noticed the lack of publication of research implicating the harmful effects of GMOs whether on animals, water supply and the environment in its entirety but the most informative statistic is that there are close to no medical studies conducted on the effects of GMOs on humans which begs the question – Why wouldn’t they publish such information if it had no ill effects for humans? 'Government/Policy makers' The European Union’s public outcry led to the banning of GM ingredients from their food supply. North American governments stood by, gave no meaning or attention to these claims and continue to introduce more GM foods into our food supply regardless of any evidence brought forth against it. Interessement The process of interessement found in this article generally applies to the GMO manufacturers in relation to their shaping of the media. Clear evidence of negative, harmful effects are seen with GMO consumption, such research led the EU to banning GM ingredients in their food supply in 1999. In North America, a different story is told, no media aims to discredit GM foods or crops and research proving such information is quickly disregarded and usually campaigns are set to discredit the researchers. Mobilization There was no mobilization within this article. However, mobilization on the topic has taken shape within the FDA and CFIA who has publicly considered GM foods the substantial equivalent of natural crops and ingredients with no harmful effects ever being noted within their research. Oddly enough this wasn’t reviewed after the European Union’s outcry against the use of GMOs. Mobilization is evident when considering the fact that most foods that aren’t labelled Natural or Organic are very highly likely to contain GMOs and are already in our food supply. We are more than likely at risk of inheriting harmful effects from the consumption of GM foods. Enrollement -The bias of the FDA and Canadian Food Inspection Agency in approving GMO use without extensive research. -Blind consumership of unlabelled foods on the part of the public. -The lack of unbias research due in great part to media censorship and corporate control.